Virgin Voyages, Valiant Lady Review

Valiant Lady

Not sure what demographic Virgin are aiming at, as they claim to be turning cruising on its head. Booked 80’s Extravaganza Rock & Retro cruise through Imagine Cruising. (Totally mis-sold/misrepresented in their marketing and advertising.) Cruise advertised to appeal to 50+ (baby-boomers) but virtually everything on board ordered/booked using an app, (very millennial focused) from food, restaurant bookings, entertainment etc. but WiFi constantly breaking down and unable to cope. (Ship only at 75% occupancy, would never cope if fully booked!) Activities/entertainment on board very poor and limited (board games (??)) or fitness focussed. Muster an absolute farce, if there had been an emergency evacuation it would’ve been a disaster. Some passengers didn’t even attend. No daily activity newsletter- you needed to check the app. activities/events cancelled without notification. I don’t think the crew knew how to work the tannoy system as the only announcements made were to notify us of a medical evacuation and a man overboard scenario. No updates on arrival at ports or other info shared. Embarkation/disembarkation like being herded in a cattle drive. No timed disembarkation as the app stopped working, so crew told everyone to just go to deck 6 and get in a queue to get off. Aware of over 200 people who either had Covid/tested positive day after disembarkation. People all wheeling off their own luggage down a dangerously steep gangway (Portsmouth). Treacherous and terrifying for disabled/wheelchair users. No buffet, instead 20+ Eateries- but no changes to the menu for the whole 12 days; don’t even have different daily specials. Food often only Luke warm. Ran out of basics three days into the cruise. Inc lower priced wines, though not the expensive stuff! Crew though very nice and friendly, also very young and inexperienced and very out of their depth when dealing with issues. After cruise communication almost non-existent. Complaints not responded to/ignored. Monies taken from credit card post-cruise with no explanation (after 4weeks of constant emails and phone calls has now been refunded but still no explanation as to why/what for.) Mr Branson is definitely turning cruising on it’s head and putting it straight down the toilet. Not an experience I care to repeat. Will stick to Celebrity in future.

Response from Virgin Voyages: We are sorry that you had a disappointing cruise. As we've discussed with everyone who sailed on this voyage this cruise was a charter organised by Imagine Cruising and the cruise was not the quality we would expect to deliver as standard with Virgin Voyages.